


Let Me

by TheNarator



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Betrayal, Creepy, Eobard is very very creepy, M/M, Obsession, Possessive Behavior, Unhealthy Relationships, Very Creepy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-01 05:15:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6502120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNarator/pseuds/TheNarator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eobard claws his way out of non-existence to save Cisco from Zoom, then offers to take Cisco away to train him to use his powers. As they work together the bond they once shared is rekindled, but Eobard Thawne can't help who and what he is.</p><p>He's never been one to believe he can't have everything he wants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Take Care of You

**Author's Note:**

> basically how this works is that this is a subplot for the end of season 2 and all of season 3. it's a bit like the subplot between thea and malcolm during seasons 2 and 3 of arrow, but rather than a family connection that had previously been a secret, this time it's a romantic relationship that had previously ended in betrayal. each chapter is a single scene between cisco and eobard that makes up their subplot, and no chapter will go past what would be a scene break on the show (commercial breaks notwithstanding).

Cisco never thought he’d be glad to see Eobard Thawne. He wasn’t, in truth, all that glad to see his murderer returned from whatever temporal oubliette they’d stuck him in, but his current position made him just a little grateful, if nothing else. He was lying on the floor of an alley, prone and propped up on his elbows, with a dead cop on either side and Zoom standing over him, presumably about to kill him. He couldn’t really be all that picky about his savior.

At first it was just a flash of red lightning that interrupted Cisco’s almost-murder. It collided with Zoom and knocked him backward, then suddenly the whole world was lit red and blue as Zoom and the Reverse Flash chased each other around the alley. Cisco’s hair blew all around his head as they fought, and the air crackled with electricity as sparks flew in every direction.

Eventually they stopped, letting still and quiet darkness return to the alley. Although, that was only because Eobard had Zoom by the throat.

“Trust me, my friend,” he said, with perfect serenity, “you do _not_  want to fight me.”

Cisco wasn’t entirely sure how superspeed granted someone glowing red eyes, but Eobard used them now as he pinned Zoom with his gaze. Zoom seemed to consider this for a moment, then in a flash of blue lightning he was gone, leaving Cisco alone with the Reverse Flash.

At last Eobard turned to him, his expression unreadable. “Cisco,” he said quietly, stepping toward the boy on the ground before him.

Cisco whimpered, shuffling backwards uselessly as Eobard advanced on him. He looked like Harrison Wells again; maybe he’d come out like that, or maybe he’d killed Harry for his appearance, Cisco had no way of knowing. The speedster kept his pace to a leisurely walk, not moving any faster than Cisco could crawl. Toying with him.

At last Eobard stopped walking and crouched down, bringing himself to Cisco’s level. “Cisco,” he repeated, and this time his tone was easier to read. He sounded tired, and a little sad. “Please, just listen to me.”

In answer, Cisco grabbed the gun of one of the dead officers and fired three times at Eobard’s face.

He caught the bullets obviously, then let them drop the ground, clattering as they hit the pavement. “What did you think that was going to achieve?” he asked wearily.

“Getting my point across,” Cisco spat. Apparently Eobard wasn’t planning on killing him right away. If he thought he was going to get something out of Cisco first, he was wrong.

A smile flickered briefly across Eobard’s face. “I suppose I deserved that,” he admitted.

“You don’t say,” Cisco snapped. “If you’re going to kill me again you-”

“I did not come here to hurt you,” Eobard assured him, cutting him off before Cisco could finish what he’d been about to say.

Cisco kept the gun pointed at Eobard’s head none the less. “What did you come here for then?”

“Don’t you know?” Eobard asked, looking hurt. As though Cisco had any power to hurt him. “I came for you, Cisco.”

“I’m not going to help you,” Cisco shook his head vigorously as he said it. “Whatever you want, you won’t get it.”

“All I want right now is your safety,” Eobard told him gently. “You’re about to enter a very difficult and dangerous process, and you’ll need a lot of care and attention if you’re going to come out of it with everything you deserve.”

Cisco frowned in confusion, eyeing Eobard warily. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that the true extent of your metahuman abilities is emerging,” Eobard explained. “In response to an attack by a speedster your powers are developing at an exponential rate, like a growth spurt. Anything less than proper care, proper training, will stunt that growth, and you’ll end up as weak as your Earth-2 doppleganger.”

“Reverb was weak?” Cisco asked in disbelief.

“He was a fraction of what you’ll become,” Eobard said, and he was smiling, a note of excitement in his voice. “Come with me, and I’ll-”

“No way,” Cisco protested, shuffling back another inch. “If I need help I’ll go back to STAR Labs-”

“No,” Eobard said firmly, eyes hard. “They don’t know how to help you through this, none of them do. If I let you go back there they’ll cripple you, and I can’t allow that.”

“I trust them to help me a lot more than I trust you,” Cisco argued, trying to set his face into an expression of determination. He wasn’t sure if he managed it.

“Let me ask you something,” Eobard ordered impatiently, “did I or did I not train Barry?”

“You trained him so you could _use_  him,” Cisco added stubbornly.

“But I did help him go faster.”

Cisco was quiet.

“Answer me Cisco.”

“Yes,” he admitted grudgingly, “you did.”

“So, even if you assume I have some ulterior motive, what makes you think I can’t help you too?” Eobard wanted to know.

“You’re a speedster,” Cisco tried. “You’re not . . . whatever I am. Plus, there’s the whole ‘evil psycho who killed me’ thing, so why should I even think about going anywhere with you?”

Eobard grinned, that toothy, pleased smile he reserved for complete and utter victories. Cisco shrank back from that smile, his heart clenching painfully in fear at the sight of it.

“The answer to those two questions is the same,” Eobard told him. “I studied you, _Vibe,_  in the history books of my time. I know everything there is to know about your powers; that’s how I knew about Reverb. It’s essential, if one is going to study the Flash.”

“Because I’m his sidekick?” Cisco guessed.

“Because you are his bane,” Eobard corrected, looking at Cisco with something like hunger. “You are one of the few metahumans who posed a true threat to the Flash, and by extension all speedsters. That, Cisco, is why you _need_  to trust me.”

He leaned in closer, his gaze boring into Cisco, and Cisco felt pinned like a butterfly to a cork board.

“I can show you how to defeat Zoom.”

For a moment Cisco just stared at him. Something inside him was trembling, trembling with such force that he felt like he would shake apart. He remembered what Eobard had said about his powers growing and wondered if this was what it felt like for his abilities to develop so quickly.

If he could defeat Zoom all by himself, then Barry would never have to be put in danger at all. Caitlin wouldn’t have to watch his vitals like a hawk, and risk Zoom coming for her once he was done with Barry. If Cisco could do this alone then everyone, _everyone,_  would be safe.

How could he say no?

“I want your promise,” he said at last, “that if I go with you you’ll teach me. You won’t hurt me, and you won’t hurt anyone I care about.”

“Done,” Eobard said easily. “Now . . .”

He held out a hand.

Frightened, despairing, and wishing there were some other way, Cisco took it.


	2. Help You

Two weeks. Fourteen days. Three hundred and thirty-six hours. That was how long Barry had been scouring the city, searching it top to bottom for any sign, any _trace_  of Cisco. For some indication that his friend hadn’t just vanished off the face of the Earth. That he was still in the city. That he was still _alive._

So far, there was nothing.

Barry felt like he was going crazy. He’d been through the city so many times everything was starting to blend together, so he could no longer be sure where he’d been or even where he was until he found himself back at STAR Labs or the precinct. He was running in his sleep, guilt gnawing at him whenever he closed his eyes until he woke up halfway to Coast City. He was starting to see flashes of red lightning at the edges of his vision when he ran. As though _that_  were possible.

It was in the midst of all this endless running that Barry finally ran into Zoom. He wasn’t sure how the speed demon had gotten through the sealed portal but that didn’t matter now. What mattered was that he was here, and there was every chance that he had _been_  here, which meant that if he’d been here two weeks ago . . .

“Where’s Cisco!” Barry demanded after his first punch missed by far too wide a margin.

Zoom was silent, only reacting to Barry’s lightning-fast punches with his own impossibly quick blows. He was hitting more often than he was missing, a lot more often than Barry.

“What did you do with him!” Barry pressed, even as Zoom landed a solid hit to his ribs.

Zoom replied with a blow to the jaw, and Barry spat out a mouthful of blood. If he had to beat the answers out of Zoom, then so be it.

Barry couldn’t beat answers out of Zoom.

Instead Zoom beat the hell out of him, and Barry hardly managed to get a punch in edgewise. Zoom had every advantage: speed, size, strength, and the indifferent conscience to be as brutal as possible. He spilled Barry’s blood on nearly every surface of the abandoned warehouse where Barry had found him, until the Scarlet Speedster was broken and bleeding at his feet.

Zoom stood over the semi-conscious speedster, then bent down and wrapped his clawed fingers around Barry’s neck. He lifted Barry up and held him by the throat, just as he had during their first fight, like nothing at all had chanced. Like Barry had been as fast as he would ever be, and would never go any faster.

Now it seemed he’d never even get the chance to find out.

“ **Goodbye, Flash** ,” Zoom growled, an echo of the last time they’d been here. “ **It seems** -”

At that point Zoom was interrupted when something like a shock wave, not unlike the one from the Particle Accelerator, swept through the warehouse. Zoom was pushed off balance and lost his grip on Barry, and the two of them fell to the ground. Once he managed to sit up Barry looked wildly around for the source of the blast, but very quickly became aware that he was missing a light source.

More to the point, Zoom was no longer giving off blue sparks like a broken light grid. His speed was gone.

This revelation was marred somewhat by the realization that Barry’s own speed was also gone, but one thing at a time.

It occurred to him that without his speed is was still going to be a chore to subdue the much bigger Zoom, but this concern was taken away by another blast, this one more tightly focused, which hit Zoom directly in the back. He fell to the ground, completely unconscious, and Barry spared a moment to stare in awe before scanning the warehouse again for whoever or whatever was giving off speed-canceling blasts.

“Who’s there?” he called, walking slowly toward the stacks of crates that concealed the corner from where the blasts had seemed to come. “Show yourself.”

The source of the blasts, the person who had just saved Barry’s life, saved Central City and defeated Zoom once and for all, stepped out of the shadows.

It was Cisco.

“Cisco!” Barry cried, almost tearing up with relief. He ran, no faster than an ordinary person but running just the same, up to his friend and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Hey Barry,” said Cisco shakily, wrapping his arms around Barry in return. He sagged against the de-powered speedster as though exhausted, and Barry was more than happy to take his weight.

“Where were you?” Barry demanded when he drew back. “Everyone’s been in full panic mode since you’ve been gone! The entire police force is out looking for you, Dante’s been dropping by the precinct practically every day, Caitlin’s a _mess_  and-”

Barry was interrupted by the sound of slow, measured clapping coming from the warehouse door. He turned, keeping Cisco held to his side, so see Harry walking leisurely out of the shadows with a bright, pleased smile on his face. Harry had mentioned that he was leaving to look for Jesse around the time Cisco disappeared, and no one had seen him since. Had he just come back, now of all times?

“Well done Cisco,” he said, in a voice that was much smoother, much more gentle than Barry was used to from Wells’ doppleganger. “Truly, truly remarkable.”

“Harry?” he asked, a  little confused.

Harry looked down, laughing a little, then lifted his head to reveal the glowing red eyes of Eobard Thawne.

“Guess again,” Thawne invited, grinning.

“You,” Barry snarled, advancing on Thawne, but Cisco held him back.

“No, Barry,” he said, sounding absolutely broken. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Barry asked incredulously. He turned back to Cisco, to see him looking miserably between Barry and Thawne.

“Cisco,” Thawne called, then held out a hand and crooked his fingers in a ‘come here’ gesture.

Cisco looked back at Barry. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, then pulled out of Barry’s hold and walked across the warehouse floor toward Thawne.

“Cisco?” Barry asked weakly, struggling to comprehend what was happening. Why was Cisco going to Thawne? Why didn’t he want Barry to attack? Why-

“Cisco!” Barry repeated, panicked. He took a few stumbling steps after his friend, but Cisco paused and turned around.

“I’m sorry Barry,” he said, sounding choked, and there were tears glistening in his eyes. “I really, really am.”

“Cisco, no!” Barry called after him, rooted to the spot with shock and fear and worry. He fumbled for an argument, some way to break whatever spell Thawne had cast on his friend.

“You don’t have to-” but Cisco _was_ listening to what Thawne said, and Barry didn’t know why.

“I can-” but Barry _couldn’t_ protect him, had never been able to protect anyone from the Reverse Flash.

“How could you-” but this wasn’t the time to blame the victim; Cisco looked like he’d rather die than walk away from Barry, so whatever his reason for following Thawne it wasn’t because he wanted to.

Cisco reached Thawne’s side, and the older man laid a hand possessively on the back of his neck. Cisco’s eyes were downcast, but Thawne put one finger under his chin and tilted his face upward.

“There’s my good boy,” he said quietly, and Barry felt sick.

“Let him go!” Barry yelled, knowing he had no power to do anything about it. He had no speed. He couldn’t stop Thawne from doing anything.

Thawne didn’t even glance at Barry though; all his attention was focused on Cisco.

“You did beautifully Cisco,” he said, murmuring the words into Cisco’s hair as he kissed the top of his head. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Don’t touch him!” Barry ordered, and finally his legs began to work again as he sprinted toward Cisco and Thawne.

“Time to go,” Thawne said cheerfully.

“Barry-” Cisco began, but then there was a flash of red lightning and the two of them were gone.

“No,” Barry whispered as he reached the door, to see Thawne streaking away into the night. “NO!”


	3. Teach You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this would probably occur during the season break, about a month or two into cisco's training. the scene would air either as part of episode one of season three, or as a flashback later in the season.

Cisco took deep, measured breaths as he searched again for the string at the very core of his being. It was getting easier to find, even when it wasn’t making its presence known by acting up and vibrating all by itself. It seemed to respond to his emotions more than his will, so finding it, feeling it, was hardest when he was calm.

Thawne helped with that.

“It’s not just inside of you,” he said, his voice as soothing as it was full of promise. “It runs through you, connecting you to everything else.”

He was walking slow circles around Cisco, like he had that day in the bunker. It was becoming more of a spiral though, each step carrying him closer to the point of his focus.

“When you pluck that thread the whole universe feels the note, the frequency you give off. Everything vibrates in harmony with you.”

Cisco began to feel the vibrations, everything around him vibrating at its own frequency. Thawne’s frequency was a particularly strong note in the symphony, and Cisco had become very familiar with it.

“All you have to do,” and this time Thawne’s words landed directly against Cisco’s ear, feathering like a caress across his cheek, “is let it go.”

Cisco’s eyes snapped open and he finally released the energy building inside his chest. Immediately Thawne took off, running at top speed in the opposite direction as he tried to evade the blast. He had to run directly away from Cisco, no time to adjust his route unless he wanted to get caught up in the shock wave, so he was forced to run directly out onto the open ocean. Cisco watched as the streak of red lightning reached an outcropping of rocks, then paused just out of reach of the blast radius.

Too bad. Cisco was kind of hoping he’d have to swim back.

Feeling drained and exhausted, Cisco walked off the patio and up a short flight of stairs to the deck. Two lounge chairs were set up to look out over the private beach, perfect for watching the sun set. Cisco collapsed into one of them, contemplated taking off his shirt, then decided against it. He wasn’t _that_  hot, even after training.

Eventually Thawne joined him, coming to a stop already draped artfully over the chair opposite Cisco’s.

“You did better that time,” he noted. “I thought I was going to have to run past the rocks.”

“But you didn’t,” Cisco replied wearily.

“If you’d just let me run over land we might be able to better mark your progress,” Thawne proposed. “It might help you with that tell of yours too, if I couldn’t see your face.”

“Tell?” Cisco asked.

“Your eyes open just before you attack,” Thawne informed him. “They glow gold. It makes you look very powerful, but it gives you away.”

“I guess I’ll have to try facing the house next time,” Cisco concluded.

Thawne laughed through his nose, but said nothing.

The sunset here really was beautiful, Cisco thought as he looked out over the water. Coast City was known for it’s beautiful beaches, but Cisco thought they should put the sunset in more of their brochures. The sky stained pink and red and orange almost made him feel less trapped, like he was here for the view and not because leaving might have disastrous consequences.

“Why did you choose this place?” Cisco broke the silence, earning himself an intrigued look from Thawne.

“Harrison Wells has fond memories of it,” he explained. “Both of them, actually. Seems to be one of those peculiar universal constants.”

“Have I mentioned how much it kills the mood when you bring up the people you’ve murdered?” Cisco asked conversationally.

Thawne laughed lightly. “No, you’ve never told me,” he teased. “I’ll avoid it in future, if that will make you happy.”

“Happy?” Cisco repeated. It was such a strange word, in this context. No one else would think it strange to use the word ‘happy’ while sitting on a beach watching the sun set, but it was for him. He wanted to rant, wanted to make some speech about how he was incredulous Thawne would even use the word, but he found once he’d begun that he was too tired to continue.

“Happy,” Thawne said more firmly, and then he was getting up and walking slowly over to Cisco’s lounge chair. Cisco didn’t move, didn’t try to stop him, as he sat down on the edge of the seat so that his hip was pressed to Cisco’s thigh.

When Thawne leaned in and brushed his lips against Cisco’s, Cisco didn’t even try to fight it. It was comfort, and it was contact, and it was something he hadn’t had in such a long time. He didn’t resist when Thawne pressed firmer, stealing a real, deep kiss from his slack mouth. He let himself be kissed, soft and slow and languid, until he felt Thawne’s hand sliding up his thigh toward his hips.

Immediately Cisco pulled back, wrenching his mouth away with a quiet gasp and grabbing Thawne’s hand to shove it back toward its owner. Thawne looked confused, hurt even, and Cisco looked down rather than face that expression.

“I think I’m going to lay down,” he announced, standing up on the other side of the lounge chair and trying not to let his breath come in ragged gasps.

“If that’s what you want,” Thawne told him simply, eyes downcast.

Cisco wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted, and that scared him more than anything, so he fled into the house to avoid having to think about it. He stopped in the front hallway, leaning against one of the ornamental pillars as he sank to the floor and buried his face in his knees. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Barry and Caitlin would say if they knew he was here, not chained up in a basement but sitting on a beach letting himself be kissed by their would-be murderer.

Thawne must have been quiet, because suddenly he was there despite the lack of any rush of wind to suggest he’d used his speed. He sank silently down beside Cisco and pulled the younger man into his arms, until Cisco was practically sitting in his lap.

He didn’t apologize, although Cisco had hardly been expecting him to, and he didn’t try to make excuses, which was more of a surprise. He simply stroked Cisco’s hair, murmuring gentle shushing noises until Cisco stopped crying. He didn’t remember when he’d started crying.

Thawne didn’t let him go then, just held him, letting Cisco cling to the front of his shirt. Cisco breathed in the familiar scent of him, and despite everything it was somehow calming. It always had been, before the accelerator explosion. Before everything had gone to hell, and he’d found out that the most important person in the world to him wasn’t who he thought they were at all.

“What do you need, Cisco?” Thawne asked quietly against his hair. “What do you need from me?”

“Just . . .” he struggled for a request, struggled to decide what it was he really wanted. “Stay?”

“Alright,” Thawne agreed, tightening his grip, letting Cisco cuddled closer into his chest. “I’ll stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next part will be after another significant timeskip, like four to six months later. things are going to change considerably between cisco and eobard, particularly given that cisco hasn't actually seen any of his friends in months and eobard is the only person he has to turn to for comfort.
> 
> basically what i'm saying is there's going to be sex, so don't say i didn't warn you.


	4. Guide You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter takes place a significant amount of time after the last one, let's say 4-6 months. this would be something that happens in the first episode of season three.

“I can’t!” Cisco whined, trying to squirm away even though there was nowhere to go. He was trapped, caught between Eobard Thawne above him and the large, luxurious bed beneath him.

“You can, sweet boy,” Eobard corrected, voice somehow even despite the fact that he was still thrusting inside Cisco. He was starting to lose the rhythm as he neared his own completion and he’d already made Cisco come twice, but he seemed bound and determined to do it again.

“It’s too much,” Cisco argued, even as he felt another climax building. 

Eobard replied with a searing kiss, as though he already knew what Cisco’s was thinking. Nothing could stop how good it felt to be thoroughly _taken_ again, like he hadn’t been since before the accelerator explosion. ‘Dr. Wells’ losing the use of his legs hadn’t stopped their affair -- they had needed each other too much for that, each in their own way -- but it had meant that while Eobard was pretending to be crippled it had fallen to Cisco to do most of the work. Being held open and fucked like this, until he was almost in tears, was something he’d missed too much for words.

Of course, there were some things Eobard hadn’t been able to do even before the explosion.

“Hold on,” Eobard instructed, wrapping a hand around Cisco’s cock.

Cisco was about to make some kind of snappy comeback along the lines of ‘hold onto what?’ when suddenly Eobard’s entire body began vibrating. It was the same frequency, Cisco dimly recognized it, but the intensity was a thousand times what it had been a moment ago. Cisco cried out as the vibrations, around him and inside him and all _through_ him, forced a third orgasm from his exhausted body, and he barely had the presence of mind to register that Eobard was finishing too.

Eobard rolled over and collapsed next to Cisco, and for a few moments they lay there panting. Cisco felt drained and exhausted, sore in places he hadn’t been sore in a long time, and completely, utterly sated.

“Your control is getting better,” Eobard noted once he had his breath back. “You didn’t let your powers get away from you at all, even when-”

“Please tell me you making me come three times in a row wasn’t another form of training,” Cisco begged, turning to face Eobard.

Eobard propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at Cisco fondly. “No,” he said, “that was me delighting in the pleasures of this dimension, your company being one of them. I went without them for a long time, you see.”

“What was it like there?” Cisco wondered as Eobard’s free hand reached out to tuck his long hair behind his ear. “You never talk about it.”

“I’d rather not,” Eobard admitted, and Cisco nodded his understanding. He was curious, but not curious enough to press the issue.

Eobard, however, seemed to read the disappointment on Cisco’s face. “Suffice it to say,” he began, “that being inside the . . . oubliette, shall we call it, wasn’t nearly as painful as being able to see what was going on outside it.”

“You could see us?” Cisco asked in alarm. “You were _watching_ us?”

“I could only see this earth,” Eobard explained, “so your adventures on Earth-2 were outside the scope of my perception. Everything else: yes, I could see.”

Cisco blushed, trying not to think of everything he’d said and done since Eobard’s disappearance from existence. He knew Barry and Caitlin would probably equally uncomfortable, but he tried not to think about them in moments like this.

“Why was that painful?” he asked, more to avoid his own thoughts than anything.

Eobard shook his head. “Because it was all wrong. Barry made bad decision after bad decision, trusted people he shouldn’t have and pushed away those he should have held close. Caitlin was miserable, and you-”

He cut himself off, looking pained, and Cisco leaned up to kiss the expression away. He’d learned over the last few months that this was the best way to keep Eobard talking, even when he’d rather stop.

“I knew that without me the others would never appreciate your contributions,” Eobard admitted when Cisco drew back, “but to _see_  it, to _see_ you pushed aside over and over . . . It hurt me. You are worth so much more.”

He carded his fingers through Cisco’s hair, looking admiringly down at him. “You are meant for greater things, Cisco Ramon.”

Cisco looked down, unable to face the unbridled reverence in Eobard’s eyes. “Like what?” he said, for lack of some other way to make Eobard stop looking at him like that.

Eobard grinned. “ARGUS,” he said simply.

Cisco frowned in confusion. “Like, who Lyla works for?”

“By this point in history she runs the agency,” Eobard confirmed. “One of their more . . . interesting, assets is called Task Force X, more colloquially known as the Suicide Squad. It utilizes sufficiently skilled or powerful criminals to handle dangerous situations in exchange for a reduction in their sentences.”

“So it’s Team Supervillains,” Cisco gathered skeptically.

“Something like that,” Eobard smiled in amusement. “However, ARGUS does require at least one soldier in good standing to accompany the group, to ensure that nothing goes wrong.”

“What does any of this have to do with me?” Cisco wanted to know.

“I want you to volunteer,” Eobard told him. He was smiling smugly, like he knew something Cisco didn’t. Which, Cisco conceded, was almost certainly the case.

“You want me to babysit a bunch of criminals while they go get themselves killed?” Cisco raised an eyebrow, trying to look as skeptical as Eobard was satisfied.

Judging by the way Eobard’s smile got even wider, it didn’t quite work.

“I want you to start working for ARGUS,” he clarified. “This is your easiest way in.”

“I’d hardly call that easy,” Cisco pointed out, “but why do you want me to work for ARGUS?”

“Because,” Eobard told him, “history says it’s part of what makes you a hero.”

Cisco’s mouth went dry. Eobard so rarely talked about Cisco’s future, about what the history books of Eobard’s time said about Vibe. Cisco had asked, obviously, but Eobard had always told him it was dangerous to know too much about one’s own future. If he was telling Cisco this now . . .

Eobard took Cisco’s hand and laced their fingers together, then brought their joined hands to his mouth and kissed Cisco’s knuckles.

“Your hero’s journey has been delayed for so long,” he said quietly. “I want to see it move forward. This is your next step. Are you ready?”

Cisco swallowed. “Yes,” he said. “I’m ready. If you think so, I’m ready.”

Eobard smiled, a deeply satisfied smile without any of his former smugness. He looked . . . happy.

“Good boy.”


	5. Keep You

Eobard knew he was in trouble when Cisco came home with such a pensive expression. He looked lost in thought, and his brow was wrinkled like something was troubling him. He wouldn’t meet Eobard’s eye, as though he were hesitant to share what he was thinking, and when he sat down at the table Eobard had laid out for his return he simply stared at his food as though not really seeing it.

Something had happened.

“Was Miss Quinn particularly insightful today?” Eobard guessed, more to open the conversation than anything.

Cisco had come home from his first mission with Task Force X talking of nothing but his peculiar new friendship with a deranged therapist turned supervillainess, and the advice she’d given him about his relationship with Dante. Eobard hadn’t been pleased -- he hated anything that drove Cisco closer _those people_ \-- but he felt he’d hidden it well. Harley Quinn was harmless, in this case. Whatever had happened today was not.

Cisco looked up at Eobard in surprise, as though he’d only just noticed he wasn’t alone. “What do you mean?” he asked, confused.

“You seem thoughtful,” Eobard explained, trying to keep his tone light. “I assumed that perhaps she hit a soft spot with her psychoanalysis.”

“No,” Cisco shook his head, still not looking at Eobard. “It’s just that . . . well . . .”

“Yes?” Eobard prompted gently, trying not to sound impatient. He took a swig of his coffee to give the illusion of nonchalance.

“Barry was there,” Cisco confessed, glancing nervously up at his lover. “At the mission, I mean. He came to see me.”

Eobard set down his cup, thinking. This complicated things. Cisco was not meant to be exposed to Barry Allen again for quite a while, not until Eobard had more time to shape Cisco’s perceptions. Allowing them to speak to each other, to exchange information and reform their bond, had the potential to undermine all his work with Cisco. The Flash could not be allowed to poison his boy again.

Still, Cisco yet considered him a friend. To try and undermine that friendship too soon would be a careless and likely fatal mistake. Eobard Thawne did not make careless mistakes.

He considered his reply briefly, then settled on a gently probing, “Did you enjoy seeing him again?” as he started in on his food.

Cisco looked at him curiously. “You mean you don’t mind?”

“How would whether or not I mind change things?” Eobard asked lightly. “The fact of that matter is that he joined you on your mission, and I assume the two of you had the chance to talk.”

“We did,” Cisco confirmed, still looking nervous.

“Cisco,” Eobard set down his fork, then reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind his boy’s ear, “I don’t mind. You were only doing what I asked of you, and while it’s true I felt this was something you should do on your own, Barry Allen’s involvement didn’t make this adventure any less beneficial to you.”

Finally Cisco relaxed, looking relieved. “I- I thought you might be upset. I know you didn’t think Barry was good for me.”

“I didn’t think you could rise to your full potential in his shadow,” he corrected. “As long as Mr. Allen isn’t making your decisions for you, I hardly think he can do much damage.”

Suddenly Cisco look nervous again. He looked down again, as though ashamed, then peeked up at Eobard through his lashes.

“He’s not . . . not making decisions for me,” Cisco assured him, as Eobard took a slow, measured bite, “but he did tell me some things.”

Eobard swallowed his mouthful and tried not to let his apprehension show on his face. _Barry Allen._

“What kind of things?” he asked, trying to sound completely untroubled by it.

“Just what’s been going on in Central City,” Cisco said hurriedly, as though some of Eobard’s discomfort had shown on his face. “How Caitlin’s been. What the team’s been up to.”

“How is Caitlin?” Eobard seized upon the chance to steer the conversation off Barry.

“Good,” Cisco replied automatically, then winced. “I mean, not so good. She’s okay, she just . . . misses me.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Eobard told him, after taking another bite. “You are singular company Cisco, your absence will have been felt.”

Cisco smiled a little, hiding it by looking down. His natural self-deprecating tendencies had probably given him the impression that he hadn’t been missed at all, or else only missed for his technical skills. Eobard gave him a warm, reassuring smile, and Cisco smiled shyly back at him.

Cisco picked up his fork, but he didn’t begin to eat. Instead he sat there playing with his food, looking down at his plate and occasionally darting glances up at Eobard.

Eventually Eobard realized that if the conversation were to move forward he would have to move it. “What else did you talk about?” he prompted.

“Well,” Cisco began, sounding like he was steeling himself for something. Perhaps they would finally get to the bottom of what was bothering him. “Barry told me about some new metas that he’s been meeting.”

“I assume you gave all of them names?” Eobard teased, glad to be back on familiar ground, if only for a moment.

“No, but I need to,” Cisco said, with more enthusiasm. “Barry’s names suck.”

“So the quest to rid the city of evil is ongoing,” Eobard gathered. “What else-”

“Not all of them are evil though,” Cisco interrupted, looking up at Eobard in excitement. “Some of them are nice, they’ve just been hiding because, well, there’s a lot of anti-metahuman sentiment in the city, you know?”

Suddenly Eobard knew exactly what Barry had told Cisco. It was a little earlier than he had expected, but he could work with this.

“I’m aware,” he assured Cisco. “What’s been driving them out of hiding then?”

“General Eiling,” Cisco told him seriously. “He’s on this crusade to find all the metas and bring them in for his creepy experiments to weaponize their powers. He’s already tried to take a bunch by force, but Barry’s so busy with the ones that are lashing out he’s having a hard time getting all the innocent ones to safety.”

Eobard took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. “That sounds like Mr. Allen,” he said noncommittally. He knew what Cisco was going to ask next.

“So I was just thinking,” Cisco began, and his anxiety was palpable, “that maybe it would be better if he had some help.”

Eobard paused, then, “I see,” he said, as though he’d only just figured it out. “You want to rejoin Team Flash.”

Cisco blinked at him, surprised. “Would . . . would that be okay?” he asked tentatively.

Eobard wanted to say no. He wanted to draw Cisco as close as possible, never let him see Barry or Dante or anyone who would try to take him away again. He never wanted Cisco to go back to that team, to those false friends who had used him and refused to help him when he needed them.

But that wasn’t an option. He’d only recently gotten Cisco to accept his restrictions; if he started chaffing at the ropes now it could undo all Eobard’s work winding him close. Cisco was his again, that much was clear, but now he needed to give the illusion of freedom. Make it seem like this was Cisco’s choice to return. To stay. To choose Eobard.

“If you feel it necessary,” Eobard told him, not quite dishonestly.

“But-” Cisco hesitated, “-our deal. Would it still stand?”

Eobard pretended to consider. Their deal was the tether by which he’d kept Cisco here with him, but he had thought he’d replaced that tether with personal loyalty by now. Cisco was too good though, too morally driven to have forgotten the original reason he agreed to stay; he was protecting Barry and Caitlin, and as long as that was true he didn’t need to think about the rest of it. Of course this could just be what Cisco was telling himself, or perhaps telling Barry, but if that leash was still required then Eobard would keep hold of it.

“You are still my student as long as you return here regularly for training,” he conceded after a few moments. “Shall we say twice a week? You can go back to living in Central City, and I’ll come get you when it’s time.”

Cisco’s face broke into a bright smile, and Eobard’s gut twisted. He should be the only one who could put that smile on Cisco’s face, not _Barry Allen_.

“You mean it?” Cisco asked excitedly. “I can go back?”

“I think you’ve earned that much,” Eobard tried to sound amused, as though this were an inconsequential concession. As though it didn’t matter.

Cisco lurched out of his chair and lunged forward, pressing his lips firmly to Eobard’s. Eobard accepted the kiss, and accepted it for what it was: excitement, gratitude, and goodbye.

Not goodbye forever though.

Team Flash could not have Cisco. He might rejoin them for a time, but Eobard would make sure that their hold on him wouldn’t last. He just had to move up his timetable, and sooner rather than later Cisco would see the Flash through the eyes of those who feared and hated him most. He would see Barry Allen how Eobard saw him, for the fraud that he was and always would be. He would truly understand Eobard in the only way he never had.

And then, the two of them would go home.


	6. Corrupt You

Cisco stormed into his apartment, phone out and held to his ear. The phone at the other end was ringing out, so it was turned on, but there was no answer despite the fact that Cisco knew damn well Eobard had nothing better he was doing. He’d already texted twice, ordering Eobard to meet him here, but he was in no mood to sit around fuming while Eobard let him run out of steam.

 _That would be just like him_ , Cisco thought savagely as the phone went to voicemail.

“You need to get to Central City right now,” he said angrily as he got to the living room, turning on lights as he went, “we need to talk, immediately!”

“Do we?” said a familiar voice from one corner of the room, and Cisco jumped. He flicked on the light to reveal Eobard sitting in the armchair he normally used during visits, arms spread out and one ankle resting on the opposite knee.

“We do,” Cisco spat, discarding his phone on a nearby table. “Did you know-”

“Hello Cisco,” Eobard said pointedly, “how was your day?”

“Cut the crap,” Cisco ordered. “You know I didn’t call you for a social visit.”

“No, you called me to ask a question.” Eobard gave up his relaxed posture, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward. “Go ahead, Cisco. Ask it.”

Presented with the opportunity to so blatantly, Cisco suddenly found he didn’t have the words. His anger felt small in the face of Eobard’s preparation to take it, and he felt the familiar urge to back down rather than making a fuss. He knew that was exactly Eobard’s intention though, so he squared his shoulders and summoned up his courage.

“Did you know that ARGUS wanted to use me as a weapon against Barry?” he asked.

Eobard looked at him with an unreadable expression, not saying anything. There was a pause, and Cisco was on the verge of repeating the question, or perhaps just yelling to demand and answer, when Eobard finally spoke.

“It seems you already think you know the answer,” Eobard said noncommittally, refusing to confirm or deny.

“I want to hear you say it,” Cisco told him, trying not to let his voice shake.

There was another pause, and then Eobard nodded slowly. “Yes, I knew.”

Cisco turned away, not wanting Eobard to see him blinking back tears. He breathed deeply, trying not to gasp as he felt his chest constrict. He was so _stupid,_  to have trust the Reverse Flash, to have ever thought-

“How did you find out?” Eobard wondered.

“Lyla was told to get me to sign on permanently,” Cisco explained, without turning around. “Lyla told Oliver, Oliver told Barry.”

“And Barry told you,” Eobard finished, a note of distaste in his voice.

Immediately Cisco whirled around. “Do _not_  pin this on Barry!” he snarled. “You did this-”

“ARGUS did this,” Eobard corrected.

“You pushed me to work for them!” Cisco argued.

“You made the choice,” Eobard pointed out. “You decided to work for them, not me.”

Cisco shook his head in disgust. “You’re right,” he admitted bitterly, “I did make a choice. I made the choice to trust you, and there is _no_  excuse for that!”

“Can you really not see the practicality in this?” Eobard demanded, as though he had any right to demand anything from Cisco.

“Practicality?” Cisco repeated in disbelief. “You want me to see the _practicality_ in being kept on retainer to _kill my friend!_ ”

“You built the Cold Gun,” Eobard pointed out, “you know the damage that he could-”

“The Cold Gun was a mistake,” Cisco retorted. “Working for ARGUS was a mistake, and believing you would do anything but lie to me-”

“I never lied Cisco,” Eobard insisted, standing up at last. “I may not have told you everything but I never once lied to you.”

“So all that stuff about ARGUS making me a hero?” Cisco challenged. “Is this just your idea of what a hero is?”

“I told you ARGUS was _part_ of what made you a hero,” Eobard reminded him, walking slowly toward him. “It is but one step in a journey. That step has ended, as I always knew it would, but what you’ve gained from the experience is still valuable.”

Eobard stepped carefully into Cisco’s personal space, and Cisco allowed it. He wanted to believe it, wanted to believe this was all just training and that no one was ever meant to get hurt, but in his heart he knew that wasn’t true.

“You said you always knew it would end,” Cisco said quietly. “Was it supposed to end before or after I killed Barry?”

Eobard sigh. “Cisco,” he said quietly, reaching out a hand to brush Cisco’s hair out of his face, but Cisco pulled away and took a difficult step back.

“Answer the question,” he insisted.

Eobard reached for him again, but Cisco flinched and then fixed him with a hard, determined look.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen so soon,” Eobard tried to explain. “There was supposed to be time, you were supposed to _see_ -”

“Oh god,” Cisco stumbled back until he hit a wall, one hand over his mouth as he tried not to throw up.

Eobard followed him. “Cisco,” he said worriedly, trying to take hold of Cisco’s face, but Cisco slapped his hands away.

“Don’t touch me!” he snapped. “How can you even think about touching me at a time like this?”

“Cisco, you need to calm down,” Eobard said, in his mentor voice, the one that made it seem like everything was going to be alright as long as you did what it said. Once Cisco had found it comforting; now that voice felt like a lie in itself.

“All that time, all those times you touched me,” Cisco went on, “you just wanted to keep me close to you.”

“Of course I wanted you close Cisco,” Eobard protested, and he finally looked something close to nervous, “I wanted you safe-”

“No wonder it was so easy for you to stick to the deal,” Cisco laughed, the sheer rage inside him bubbling into hysterics. “Easy enough to restrain yourself from killing Barry when you were planning on making me do it!”

“Cisco,” Eobard said, and his voice was pained. A month ago it would have been painful to hear him sound like that. “Do not think for one moment that was the only reason-”

“Get out!” Cisco yelled. “Deal’s off! Get out of here now!”

At last Eobard seized hold of Cisco’s shoulders. “Cisco!” he shouted, sounding panicked, but Cisco was done listening. The power inside him was drumming against the borders of his skin, begging to come out, and Cisco decided that he’d kept it in long enough. He could almost feel his whole body trembling as he sent a vibration blast radiating out around him, and in a flash of red lightning that left tingles on his skin before disappearing through the far wall, Eobard was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thus it all falls apart! *cackles*


	7. Take You Home

Barry hadn’t been pleased when Cisco told him he’d be returning to Coast City after their mission with the Suicide Squad. He hadn’t been satisfied with Cisco’s explanation that he needed more training, despite the fact that such a reason had been enough to justify going _back in time_  less than a year ago. Cisco had instead had to remind him that as long as the Reverse Flash was focused on training Vibe, he wasn’t focused on killing the rest of the team, and only the promise that Eobard would stay out of their lives was enough to convince Barry it was a good idea.

So to say that Cisco was surprised when Barry invited Eobard not only into their lives, but into their _lab_ , would be an understatement.

“Cisco,” said Eobard quietly, standing in the doorway of Cisco’s workroom.

Cisco ignored him. He’d been rather studiously ignoring Eobard since he set foot in STAR Labs with Barry’s blessing, and instead he continued to pore over the schematics for the Flash suit. He had to find a way to make it more resistant to Eiling’s new weapons. They were planning to sneak into the military compound to free the trapped metahumans within, but if they were caught . . .

“Cisco, look at me,” Eobard requested softly.

Cisco fought the urge to obey. When Eobard spoke to him in that soft, beseeching voice it was difficult to deny him, but he managed.

“I have a few ideas for you,” Eobard tried next. “Technically they’re your ideas, but it will expedite the process if I-”

“If they’re my ideas then I’ll come up with them,” Cisco replied at last. It felt a little like giving in, but he wanted Eobard out of his space. He wondered why and indeed _how_  he’d ever let Harry invade this room, when it felt so easy to set boundaries now.

Maybe that was just one of the ways he’d gotten stronger, after all his training in Coast City. Damn it.

It seemed that setting boundaries was working, because Eobard stood on the threshold but would not cross it. “Please Cisco,” he said, and he sounded almost sincere. “We need to talk.”

“ _We_ don’t need to do anything,” Cisco corrected. “ _You_ need to leave.”

“You need me to defeat Eiling,” Eobard reminded him. “Even Barry acknowledges that.”

“Then go help Barry,” Cisco ordered coldly. “I’m busy and I don’t wanna talk to you.”

“You don’t think there’s anything left to be said between us?” Eobard asked. “You’re not the slightest bit curious?”

“About what?” Cisco scoffed. “You used me to try and kill Barry, plain and simple.”

“I told you that’s not the only reason,” Eobard recalled. “I’ve said it before, I may have omitted certain details, but I’ve never lied to you.”

“So wanting me to kill my best friend was just a ‘detail’ to you?” Cisco demanded, finally looking up at him. Eobard’s expression was unreadable, but it certainly wasn’t the smug smirk or condescending smile Cisco had been expecting. He looked back down at his work, not wanting to face that inscrutable gaze.

Eobard seemed to take Cisco’s acknowledgement for the invitation that it most certainly wasn’t, and took one pointed step inside. When Cisco didn’t blast him back through the doorway, as he had seriously considered doing, Eobard began to approach the work table.

“A small piece of a larger plan,” Eobard assured him, taking slow, measured steps. “You have no idea what it’s like in the future, Cisco. He’s _everywhere._ I merely wanted to create a world where he isn’t so . . . idolized.”

“Are you _still_  going on about the future?” Cisco demanded, looking up at him in disbelief. “Newsflash Professor Psycho, Barry is never going to help you again. You are _never_  going home!”

At that Eobard smiled. It wasn’t exactly smug, but it was satisfied, pleased in some way. Cisco wanted to smack it off his face.

“I don’t need Barry’s help to go back to the future anymore,” Eobard told him.

Cisco frowned. “Then what do you care what the future’s like? You’ll never see it-”

“I will,” Eobard told him, as confidently as if it were already settled. “With you.”

Cisco stared at him. Vibing between worlds, opening and closing doors between dimensions, was something they’d worked on only a little during his time in Coast City. Eobard had seemed particularly intrigued by it, but Cisco had had quite enough of parallel universes and so hadn’t pursued it much. Was this why Eobard had been so interested? Was it possible that he could do more than move between worlds? Was it possible he could . . .

“Do you mean . . .” Cisco trailed off, not sure how to put it. “Are you saying I could . . .”

“It’s possible,” Eobard told him, smile widening at Cisco’s curiosity. “Moving between universes is the difficult part. Moving through time and space in a single universe? Child’s play by comparison.”

Cisco shook his head. “It doesn’t matter,” he said firmly, tamping down on his desire, his need to know _more._  “Time travel’s dangerous and I have no intention of trying it."

“You’re smart, Cisco,” said Eobard, and there was a strange tenderness to his voice. “Your insatiable curiosity is one of your finest features. Can you tell me, honestly, that you don’t even want to know how it’s done?”

“Why would I ever help you?” Cisco countered. “Why would I _ever_  want to send you home?”

Eobard chuckled a little. “Not send,” he corrected. “Come with me.”

Cisco blinked. “What.”

“Come with me,” Eobard repeated, stalking around the desk to stand before Cisco’s chair. “We can go together. I can show you the future.”

Cisco stood nervously, fully aware the he still didn’t come close to Eobard’s height. “Why would I do that?” he asked, but he knew his voice betrayed how enticing he found the idea of seeing the future for himself.

Eobard stepped carefully into Cisco’s personal space, a space he had once been free to move in and out of, and it seemed he had never quite lost his place there.

“You’d love it,” he promised. “No environment could be better for you. The technology you’d have at your fingertips? You’d flourish, as you never could in this time.”

Eobard lifted a hand slowly to brush a piece of hair out of Cisco’s face, caressing his cheek as he did so.

“Everything I have there I want to share with you,” he whispered, the words landing against Cisco’s lips.

Cisco swallowed, his throat painfully dry. Eobard’s mouth was so close.

“We can be happy together,” Eobard concluded, then leaned in and connected their lips.

Cisco struggled to keep his head under the onslaught of Eobard’s kiss, but after everything that had happened in the last few days, the last few _months,_  he was too exhausted to resist. Eobard crowded him against the desk, giving him no room to escape, and Cisco leaned helplessly back as he was pressed into the hard surface. He barely even noticed as it dug into his back, he was so lost in the intensity of the seduction, and he felt Eobard smile against his lips.

Once he pulled away Eobard continued to lay small, light kisses on Cisco’s mouth. “So?” he asked softly between kisses. “How does that sound?”

That sounded wonderful. It felt amazing. The prospect was exciting, and terrifying, and impossible to refuse.

Cisco knew he had to do it anyway.

“What about Barry?” he managed at last.

“He’ll only get in the way,” Eobard told him. “I want to create this future for you.”

“A future without my friend?” Cisco asked.

“A future where there’s nothing to distract us from each other,” Eobard corrected, “where there’s nothing but you and me. No Flash. No Vibe. Just us.”

Cisco placed his hands on Eobard’s chest and pushed him away, slow but firm. Reluctantly Eobard stepped back.

“Cisco?” he asked earnestly, looking nervous and lost.

“I can’t,” Cisco told him. “Vibe is who I am, I can’t be separated from him. Team Flash is my home-”

“I can be your home,” Eobard pleaded. “I can be everything-”

“You can’t,” Cisco cut him off. “You can’t be Caitlin, or Dante, or my parents.”

“They don’t appreciate you like I do,” Eobard said, with a touch of anger. “They never will.”

“Maybe not,” Cisco conceded, “but accepting them, flaws and all, is better than giving up and running away because they’re not paying enough attention.”

“You’d rather give up on me than them,” Eobard concluded sadly.

“You did try to kill me,” Cisco pointed out.

Eobard huffed out a laugh through his nose. “Am I ever going to live that down?”

“No,” Cisco told him, then reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips. “You should go.”

“Is that really what you want?” Eobard asked, and Cisco knew he wasn’t just talking about leaving the lab.

_No,_  Cisco wanted to say. “Yes.”

Eobard nodded solemnly, then swept from the room, leaving Cisco feeling broken and hollow behind him.


	8. Remind You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a flashback to just after eobard rescues cisco from zoom and they make their deal. it begins when they arrive in coast city for the first time, and eobard takes cisco to the beach house.

_By the time they reached their destination Cisco was already trembling violently in Thawne’s grip. He was shaking harder than he ever had before, like a full body shiver that just wouldn’t stop. He felt like his bones were rattling, like he would shake himself to pieces if he didn’t stop soon._

_He wasn’t sure how long they’d been running, only that Thawne was carrying him and they were no longer in Central City. Dimly he realized he could smell sea air as they zipped through nearly deserted streets. Were they near the ocean? He tried to ask where they were going, but the rush of wind whipped the words away as though tearing the voice from his throat._

_That, for some reason, was the thing that made him cry. He was far from home, in an unfamiliar place where no one would think to look for him, in the sole company of a supervillain. Zoom was back in this dimension, and there was a very real chance that Barry and Caitlin would die even if Cisco stuck to Thawne’s deal. He’d just witnessed two of his coworkers being murdered by a speed demon from hell, and it was the fact that he couldn’t talk that finally, finally brought tears to his eyes._

_Eventually they came to a stop, and Cisco opened his wet eyes to find himself in a large bedroom. It was impersonal, with stark white walls, curtains and bedsheets, and the only other color visible was the light brown wood of the bed, dresser and side tables. It looked almost like a hotel room, but something told him they were in a house. Thawne would want more privacy than a hotel would afford them._

_Thawne laid him on the bed. “Sh, sh,” he gentled, cupping Cisco’s face and wiping tears away with both thumbs. “It’s alright, I’ve got you.”_

_“Please,” Cisco said, not really sure what he was asking for, and his voice sounded strange, buzzing like his throat was full of bees.  
_

_“Relax,” Thawne instructed, drawing away to kneel beside the bed, and Cisco fought the urge to pull him back and cling to him. “Don’t try to fight it.”  
_

_“What’s happening to me?” Cisco pleaded.  
_

_“Like any metahuman, your body is undergoing a transformation,” Thawne explained, in that same soothing, confident voice he’d used to talk Barry through leaning new techniques. “In your case it’s adjusting to a new frequency, or more accurately a new range of frequencies. You’ll be able to change your body’s vibration frequency at will when this is over.”  
_

_“How do I stop it?” Cisco demanded, his voice even more distorted than before.  
_

_“You don’t,” Thawne said simply. “If you went to Caitlin she would try to stop the vibrations in order to stabilize you, but that would only hurt you in the end. We need to stabilize you another way.”  
_

_From a drawer in the bedside table Thawne pulled a remote control, and with the press of a button suddenly the room was filled with the sound of a single, sustained note. As he listened Cisco found that he was slowing down. He was still vibrating, but less violently, and it didn’t hurt anymore. Cisco hadn’t realized how much it had hurt until it stopped._

_“What did you do?” he asked shakily, but his voice had stopped thrumming like a guitar string, so that was something.  
_

_Thawne smiled benevolently down at him. “I’ve brought you into line with this dimension,” he said quietly, stroking Cisco’s hair. Cisco didn’t have the energy to push him off, and it felt kind of nice in his exhausted state. “This will be your natural vibrating frequency when your transformation is complete, so harmonizing with it will help you rest. You’re still changing, but now you’re centered here.”_

_“You said it would take time,” Cisco recalled. “How long?”  
_

_“A while,” Thawne said vaguely. “Like I said, all metahumans undergo a transformation. Barry had the luxury of doing it while asleep; now, you’ll have that luxury as well.”  
_

_Cisco struggled to keep his eyes open. He’d been tired even before Zoom’s attack, but now all he wanted to do was sleep. “Would I have been awake otherwise?” he asked, knowing he sounded as sleepy as he felt. He fought the urge to yawn._

_Thawne nodded, continuing to stroke Cisco’s hair. “It would have been painful. You would have fought, and that would have drawn it out. Sapped your strength. Damaged your powers.”_

_“Why do you care?” Cisco wanted to know. He had to know, before he fell asleep. He had to know what Thawne’s trick was.  
_

_“Because I care about you,” Thawne told him, then leaned in to place a tender kiss on his forehead. “Sleep, my Cisco. When you wake up you’ll be more powerful than you can imagine.”  
_

_He drew back to look Cisco in the eye. “And I’ll still be here, waiting for you.”_

_Something inside Cisco balked at the use of the possessive ‘my,’ but his body was weary and the idea of speaking seemed to require too much effort. The note still piping into the room was too soothing to fight, and reluctantly he closed his eyes. He could feel Thawne crawling over him to settle on the bed at his side, but nothing could have woken him enough to protest, and the last thing he heard before he dropped off was Thawne whispering something incomprehensible in his ear._

_Some distant part of his brain thought it made out the word ‘love,’ but he was asleep before he could be sure._


	9. Stay With You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're back to the present tense this time, so this takes place a few days after chapter 7, when the plan barry was working on with eobard has already been pulled off.

None of them were really surprised when Eobard disappeared. Barry had told him, after all, that they would deal with him when they were through with Eiling, so the fact that he hadn’t stuck around to see how they would ‘deal with him’ was hardly unexpected. The important thing was that they had won. The plan hadn’t exactly gone off without a hitch, but they’d managed. The metahumans Eiling had captured were free and Iris had the evidence she needed to write her article on corruption in the military. It was over.

Well, it was almost over.

Cisco drove himself to Coast City. He could have had Barry run him there, but he didn’t want Barry involved in this, so he’d asked for a few days to himself and everyone had been very understanding. They knew what he’d been through, or at least they thought they did, and they were all quietly grateful, mostly because their vocal gratitude made Cisco visibly uncomfortable. They thought they knew why Cisco had stayed in Coast City for months. They were only half right.

It took him the better part of a day to reach the city, and it was early evening when he arrived at the beach house. The sky was stained orange with the sunset, and the fading light came streaming through the large windows as he let himself in. The door was unlocked. He was expected.

Cisco found Eobard outside, in his lounge chair on the deck, watching the sun set. He turned when he heard the door open, a smile breaking out over his face as he saw Cisco.

“You came,” he said simply. He didn’t get up, clearly expecting Cisco to join him, but Cisco held his ground.

“Can we go inside?” he asked quietly.

Eobard looked at him curiously for a moment, then stood up and followed him into the house.

“I didn’t know if you would come back,” Eobard confessed as they filed into the barren living room. There wasn’t much there but a couch, two end tables and a wall-mounted widescreen. They’d watched a lot of movies in this room, in the evenings after the sun had set, and yet somehow it was devoid of any evidence of the time they’d spent there.

“How could I stay away?” Cisco turned to face Eobard, smiling weakly.

Eobard stepped easily forward until he could run his fingers through Cisco’s hair. When Cisco put up no resistance he leaned in for a kiss, which Cisco gave freely. He had to make this feel as natural as possible, like an inevitability, like Eobard was getting everything he wanted.

Right now, what he wanted was Cisco. Cisco could work with that.

Eobard wrapped one arm around Cisco’s waist as they kissed, then kept it there when he pulled away, continuing to lay light, soft kisses on Cisco’s lips.

“I’m glad you came back,” Eobard said against his mouth. “I have so much left to show you.”

“I know,” Cisco told him, stepping back just a little so that there was space between their bodies, but Eobard’s hand still rested on his hip. “That’s why I’m here.”

He took a deep breath, then nervously made his request. “I want you to show me how to travel in time.”

A smile spread slowly over Eobard’s face, a look of excitement and deep, deep satisfaction. “Of course,” he replied, with feigned indifference, “how could I dangle that over your head and then expect you not to be curious?”

“Someone once told me my curiosity is one of my finest features,” Cisco smiled cheekily up at him.

“Someone very smart,” Eobard agreed smugly, running his fingers through Cisco’s hair again.

“So let’s get this show on the road,” Cisco proposed with a nervous shrug. “How do I do it? How do I take us to the future?”

“In much the same way Barry did,” Eobard explained. “You open a portal, not unlike a breach, but in this case it’s to a different time, not a different place.”

Cisco nodded. They had practiced opening and closing breaches, and had even peered into a few other universes besides Earth-2. Most of them had slightly different architecture, but that was as far as Eobard had allowed him to see before calling him back. Eobard never allowed Cisco to wander too far off.

He turned away, toward the middle of the room, and like clockwork Eobard leaned in to whisper in his ear.

“Imagine a city,” he instructed, “all glittering and chrome. Cars without wheels fly overhead. The air is crisp and clear, devoid of smoke or pollution. It’s beautiful.”

Cisco imagined it, concentrating on the fact that it was _Central City_  and not some sci-fi utopia. as he plucked the string inside himself and held out a hand. Immediately a glowing blue portal began to blossom around his fist, energy swirling gently and making a sound like the waves outside. It felt like a breach, but different somehow. When Cisco pulled his hand away it was the same size as any breach he’d ever made, but it somehow felt smaller. More compact, or perhaps more contained.

Cisco turned back to Eobard with an anxious expression. “Did I do it right?”

Eobard stepped forward around Cisco to inspect the portal. “Yes,” he said after a moment, then turned to Cisco with a wide grin. “We’ll certainly find out, won’t we?”

“We will,” Cisco replied, smiling as he stepped into Eobard’s personal space. He gripped the front of the taller man’s shirt as he leaned up for a kiss, and Eobard reciprocated by cupping his hands around Cisco’s face. They kissed, long and languid, and Cisco put all the passion and emotion he felt into the kiss, so much that he felt tears prickling in his eyes.

Without breaking the kiss, or letting go of Eobard’s shirt, Cisco let off a full-circle vibration blast that swept through the room. The windows shattered. The TV cracked.

Eobard Thawne stayed in place.

When he felt the blast hit him in the chest Eobard pulled away from the kiss, looking down at Cisco fearfully. “What did you do?” he demanded in horror. “Cisco, what did you do?”

Cisco blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill out. “We can’t contain you,” he explained in a broken voice, “and I don’t . . . I don’t have it in me to kill you . . .”

“Don’t do this,” Eobard pleaded, and Cisco knew he had guessed the plan. “You don’t have to-”

“I do,” Cisco retorted, nodding furiously. The tears were starting to slip out. “It’s the only way.”

“Come with me,” Eobard begged. “You don’t have to send me alone, you can stay with me. I can stay here with you.”

“My place is here,” Cisco whispered. “You can’t stay here, Eobard. You can’t.”

“Cisco!” Eobard shouted, but Cisco didn’t wait to hear any more. He placed both palms on Eobard’s chest and shoved, putting a mild vibration blast behind it.

Eobard fell backwards through the portal, still calling Cisco’s name. He flailed at the edges, but there was nothing to grab onto but empty air. Cisco watched as he disappeared, mouth still forming words even as they were drowned out by the sound of a breach in the space-time barrier.

Cisco thought he might have heard the word ‘love,’ but it was too difficult to make out.

He closed the portal with a wave of a hand, then collapsed to his knees on the floor. Only now did he let the tears fall, openly weeping into his hands. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging painfully at the silky strands, but not even that pain could distract him from the agony inside his chest.

Eventually Cisco calmed down. He stopped crying and got shakily to his feet, then slowly made his way upstairs. He would go back to Central City tomorrow. Right now he needed sleep, in the bed that held the last lingering traces of Eobard’s scent in this time period. Right now he needed a remote control that would make the bedroom’s sound system play the single, sustained note he’d come to refer to as The Lullaby. Right now he needed to mourn the loss of a man he should never have wanted to know in the first place.

Tomorrow he would get up, pull himself together and drive home. He would face Barry and Caitlin and tell them what had happened, _everything_ that had happened, including what he and Eobard had been. He would celebrate their victory, the defeat of General Eiling and Eobard Thawne, and things would start getting back to normal.

Tonight, he would cry. Tomorrow, he would heal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to checkerboardom for putting the idea to call that sound eobard plays "the lullaby" into my head


	10. Have You

Eobard Thawne had never been one to believe he couldn’t have _everything_  he wanted. He had the intellect of a genius and the power of a god; not only did he _deserve_ whatever his heart desired, but he had the skills to obtain it. Nothing was out of his reach, nothing outside the scope of his powers, so being told he couldn’t have something had never sat well with him. If he wanted something he would have it. It was as simple as that.

So, when he stepped off his newly acquired timeship into the cool night air of 2016 Central City, it was with the calm assurance that he was going to get _everything_  that he came for.

He would get Cisco back, that much was certain. He would have his revenge on Barry Allen for taking his boy from him, and with any luck he’d accomplish both those things at once. He had once promised the sleeping Flash a reckoning, and he was going to make good on that promise. Nothing could ever excuse the wedge Barry driven between Eobard and the person who was most precious to him, and the Flash’s patent inferiority before the Reverse Flash made it all the more infuriating. This would not stand. Eobard would not stand for it.

It would be no small task to persuade Cisco that they could be together again. Barry had clearly gone to a lot of effort to poison him against Eobard, and Cisco was still firmly under his control. Eobard wouldn’t stand for that either; Cisco was his, and Barry Allen couldn’t have him. Already he ached for the feel of warm golden skin on his own, for light kisses in the early morning and the sound his true name falling from those sweet lips. What he wouldn’t give to be able to just go to Cisco and _take_ him, bring him somewhere safe where no one but Eobard would ever be able to see him, to touch him, to . . .

Well, he knew the answer to that. Cisco’s love. That was what he wouldn’t give.

This would take time. He would have to go slowly, be diligent and methodical. Still, he was nothing if not patient; the last fifteen years had taught him that virtue. He would be patient with Cisco, and in time his boy would return to where he belonged. He would come back, come _home_ , and he would love Eobard again. He’d never really stopped, that much Eobard knew: Cisco had wept as he’d banished Eobard back to his time, had said that he didn’t have the strength to kill him. All this spoke to a lingering affection Cisco would never be able to shake. That love was a part of him, and always would be. Just as it would always be a part of Eobard.

There was time for all of that though. Right now he just wanted to _see_ Cisco.

“Gideon,” he activated the shipboard AI, “locate Cisco Ramon.”

“The cameras you placed in his apartment and around STAR Labs have all been removed,” Gideon informed him. “However, the GPS tracker on his phone would suggest that he is in your safe house in Coast City.”

“Well then,” Eobard replied as he re-boarded the ship, “set a course for Coast City.”

“Would you like me to place the ship near the beach house?” Gideon asked the loading bay doors closed.

“No,” Eobard said, “put us down outside the city. I don’t intend to disturb him; I just want to have a little peek.”

“Yes Captain Thawne,” Gideon responded as the ship took off.

 _Captain Thawne,_  Eobard thought as he made his way to the bridge. _It has a nice ring to it._

In time, he thought perhaps Cisco would think so too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case you were wondering, he stole that timeship. now he has a stable way to travel back and forth between the past and future without relying on the speed force, which means he's free to do pretty much whatever he wants without worrying about how he's going to get home.


End file.
